County and residents discuss proposal to redevelop area

SUN CITY —— A redevelopment plan that would upgrade some of Sun
City's oldest commercial lots and modernize Quail Valley's
deteriorating road system could be adopted by the spring, a
consultant hired by Riverside County told residents Wednesday
night.

The county plan also is expected to address Quail Valley's
"health and safety issues," and could aid economic development in
Sun City, said Ernie Glover, president of Orange-based GRC
Redevelopment Consultants, who is representing Riverside County's
Economic Development Agency.

"But nothing has been finalized," added Glover, who noted that
"redevelopment funds" won't be collected until a plan is
adopted.

The County Board of Supervisors could vote to adopt a completed
plan in April, Tina English, the Economic Development Agency's
deputy director, told the audience at Kay Ceniceros Senior
Center.

A redevelopment plan may be the only solution to upgrading
deteriorating infrastructure in lieu of raising taxes, officials
said. Such a plan would establish a redevelopment area, a special
district allowing cities and counties to keep a portion of property
taxes for use in financing public improvements.

To Gayle Lacy of Sun City, a plan to fix the roads is decades
overdue.

"We have no way to circumvent (the traffic)," said Lacy. "We
can't maintain our small-town feel if we're putting in (thousands)
of homes, and have the same one-lane roads."

Other residents, including Olivia Parker of Quail Valley, are
equally frustrated.

"It takes you 15 minutes to get a mile and a half from Murrieta
(Road) to Goetz (Road)," she said, one of about 110 people ——
mostly Quail Valley residents —— who attended the meeting.

Glover didn't dispute the residents' road-related
complaints.

"A lot of money needs to be put into those roads," said Glover,
who noted that most of Quail Valley's streets are "narrow, one-way
roads."

A redevelopment plan, which would include most of Quail Valley's
core and the Interstate-215 corridor that runs through Sun City,
could enhance areas some believe are blighted.

"The agency could assist with rehabilitating commercial
structures," said Glover, who noted that store parking lots along
the I-215 corridor in Sun City are crumbling.

"There's some problems for the area to compete with other
businesses in the Menifee Valley area," he added.

The redevelopment plan also could address the lack of a sewer
system in Quail Valley, Glover said. He added that redevelopment
funds could help pay for a system or offset sewer hook-up fees.

In an interview at the meeting, Dave Hyatt of Quail Valley said
the community "absolutely needs a sewer."

"When it rains, people can't afford to pump their (septic)
tanks, so they let them overflow," said Hyatt, who hopes all the
redevelopment funds "go to infrastructure instead of teen centers
or parks."

In a 30-year redevelopment plan, 20 percent of the funds must be
earmarked for affordable housing, English said. She added that all
redevelopment funds, except those for affordable housing, must be
spent on improvements within the redevelopment area's
boundaries.

"Housing (funds) can be spent in the general community," English
said.

Several residents also complained that Menifee Valley, which is
unincorporated, is often forgotten by the county, which governs
land-use in the area.

Hyatt believes the county can solve the area's infrastructure
problems.

"I think they want to get it resolved and get a sewer in there,"
he said.